Uphold ceasefire, appeals Farooq

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 29

National Conference (NC) president and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has expressed concern at the alarming situation along the Line of Control (LoC) and hoped that cooler heads would prevail, while appealing to uphold the ceasefire agreed upon in 2003.

“We hope cooler heads will prevail and the ceasefire of 2003 will be upheld. Our thoughts are with people living along the LoC and the international border as it is they who suffer the most in such escalations,” Farooq Abdullah said in a statement.

He said both India and Pakistan should exercise restraint and open all channels of communications to de-escalate the situation along the LoC and the international border (IB). “Confrontation and hostility between New Delhi and Islamabad have not yielded favourable results for either country in the past and all outstanding issues and concerns should be discussed with sincerity and the overarching common goal of achieving peace, stability and cooperation in the region,” Farooq stated.

“The people of Jammu and Kashmir have suffered the most because of hostility and confrontation between India and Pakistan. This is precisely why we reiterate that there is no alternative to a cooperation and peaceful engagement between the two neighbours. All outstanding issues should be resolved peacefully and effectively,” he stated.

Farooq Abdullah said New Delhi and Islamabad should work together to ensure an immediate and effective ceasefire and that mutual declarations of peace and cooperation should be used as building blocks for a new bilateral diplomatic process. “Be it the Lahore Declaration, the Agra Summit or numerous bilateral engagements ever since, including the recent joint statement issued by the External Affairs Ministers of India and Pakistan in 2015 — both New Delhi and Islamabad have expressed their commitment towards the mutual goals of peaceful coexistence and cooperation. It is this spirit of responsibility that should encourage and inspire both governments towards sustained efforts aimed at ensuring peace,” Farooq added.